


Haven't You Heard of Closing A Goddamn Door?

by GinnyRose



Series: Peter Parker: Disaster Bi Extraordinaire [6]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Being Walked In On, Bisexual Peter Parker, Boys Kissing, Coming Out, Dorks in Love, Flirting, Fluff, Gay Ned Leeds, Humor, LGBTQ Themes, Little bit of hurt/comfort, M/M, MJ Knows Everything, Making Out, Ned Leeds is a Little Shit, Peter Has No Chill, Peter is a Little Shit, Precious Peter Parker, Supportive Aunt May, Supportive Michelle Jones, Teasing, mostly comfort, school days
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 13:02:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15243963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GinnyRose/pseuds/GinnyRose
Summary: He had kept Spider-Man a secret from May for almost a year, he could definitely pretend to just be friends with Ned for a few weeks. He just wouldn’t be able to hold his hand, or kiss him, or smile at him.Okay, so maybe it wouldn’t be easy.Peter was still confident they could pull it off. He was Spider-Man and Ned was his Guy in the Chair. They could handle this.Probably.Most likely.He was like 75% sure they could handle it.Or: Peter and Ned try to navigate their first day as more than friends by keeping quiet about it but between overly observant friends and forgetting to close doors, their attempts do not go as planned.





	Haven't You Heard of Closing A Goddamn Door?

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of a series and it would probably make more sense if the ones before this are read first.

Peter was on cloud nine. It had only been a day since Ned had kissed him and Peter was thriving on the giddy euphoria of it all, hardly daring to believe that everything had worked out so well. But it had and now Peter was dating his best friend.

Dating _Ned_.

And it was amazing. Honestly, truly, one of the best feelings Peter had ever experienced.

After Peter had pulled Ned close and kissed him the second time, it was like a gate had broken open. He had worried, briefly, that something would change after that kiss, that some awkwardness would arise that would diminish his happiness. Peter had spent a good deal of his life viewing Ned as his best friend and he hadn’t known how the shift from best friend to something completely different would affect that. Part of him worried that Ned wouldn’t like the change. His fears were so far unfounded. No matter what their relationship was, they were still Peter-and-Ned, the inseparable duo that was a bane to both average aunts and not-so average billionaires. There were just added perks.

Like the way Ned had smiled at Peter on the Subway when they had eventually made their way out of the apartment to go rescue Peter’s Legos from the shopping mall. Or the way that, even though he didn’t outright grab his hand, Peter kept brushing his fingers against Ned’s as they had walked back with the newly freed Legos. Or the way that Ned had laughed and pressed soft lips against Peter’s cheek after he had seen the Shanghai set Peter had bought for him.

Or the way that they still assembled Lego sets together but now it took twice as long because neither could keep their hands completely off the other and they kept distracting each other with feathery light kisses. Or the way that when the Legos had been finished and dinner ordered and eaten, the two of them had settled in the living room for a Netflix marathon that had ended not with them dozing off on either side of the couch, but with Peter curled up against Ned as they both slept soundly.

Things were both the same and completely different but there was none of the feared awkwardness. Instead, it just felt right. It felt right to press a sleepy kiss onto Ned’s forehead in the morning as he headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth; it felt right to feel Ned wrap him in a tentative backward hug as Peter got down the cereal for breakfast. It felt right to have Ned give him a quick peck on the lips before they left the apartment for school on Monday. It all felt natural, like it was the logical path the universe had set out for their friendship when they had first met. All of it was new and exciting but at the same time familiar and comforting. It was a wonderful feeling and Peter felt like nothing could ever burst the small balloon of happiness inside him that swelled just a bit more whenever Ned smiled at him.

Peter’s euphoria carried him through the first half of the school day easily – He and Ned spent homeroom quietly passing a note back and forth that mostly consisted of each adding a new, more ridiculous element to a doodle-lizard Ned had drawn. It was a C-block day and his two morning classes - AP European History and Honors English – he had with MJ but not Ned, and Peter spent most of the time idly doodling hearts on the edges of his notes as he waited for lunch. It was a bit ridiculous, he knew, but he couldn’t bring himself to care much. Not when everything was new and wonderful. He would gladly act the part of a stereotypical teen in a romantic comedy now that he understood what all the fuss around dating was about.

The bell signaling the end of second period had barely rung before Peter was out of his seat and shoving his notebook and books into his bag as quickly as possible. Overeager to leave the classroom and have lunch with Ned, he was barely paying any attention to what was happening around him.

That was nearly always a mistake when one was friends with Michelle Jones.

Peter finished zipping up his bag and was about to swing it over his shoulder when he looked up and nearly jumped back in surprise. MJ was leaning on the desk next to him, staring at him with an impassive expression and paying no mind to the fact that the normal occupant of the desk, Seymour O’Reilly, was still there trying to gather all his things. How she always managed to get close to Peter without him noticing was a secret she would never willingly give up. Peter knew because he had asked her once over ice cream but she had merely raised an eyebrow and tossed her plastic spoon at him – he had never bothered asking again.

“You’re acting weird.” MJ said in lieu of a greeting, standing up fully once Peter took notice of her.

“Nice to see you too, MJ. My weekend was great, thanks for asking. How was yours?” Peter replied, skirting around his desk and lingering classmates to head towards the door. MJ slid next to him as he continued walking.

“Went to Central Park to watch them move a statue of an old racist doctor, so it was pretty good. Why are you acting weird?” MJ was nothing if not determined. Peter shot her a side-eyed look as they made their way down the hallway.

“Why do you think I’m acting weird?” He responded. Part of him was dying to tell MJ about Ned – he knew that, despite MJ’s general aloofness, she was a good friend who would be happy for the two of them. But he hadn’t discussed telling people with Ned yet and he didn’t want to cross any unspoken boundaries.

“Why are you avoiding my question?” MJ asked. Peter wasn’t looking at her but he could hear the raised eyebrow in her accusative tone. “You were doodling in class and not paying attention at all to Mrs. Winterhalter’s introduction to _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_. And you love Shakespeare.” Peter had no idea how MJ had noticed he had been doodling in class as she sat two rows ahead of him but he decided not to question it. She wouldn’t tell him anyway.

“I just had some stuff on my mind. Besides, I’ve read the play before.” Which was perfectly true, as long as one counted a book that retold Shakespearean plays with Lego pieces as the same as reading the play in a more traditional format. “Doesn’t mean I was acting weird.”

“You rarely doodle in class unless it’s on one of those ridiculous notes you and Ned send to each other. You’re more of a pencil or finger tapper.” Again, she was right. Creepily right, really. Peter probably would have been more concerned about her knowledge of his behaviors if he hadn’t known for a fact that she did it to pretty much anyone she regularly interacted with. It was hard to hate her uncanny ability to notice the little things about someone when he regularly witnessed her using it to dismantle any excuse Flash gave for not being prepared at Academic Decathlon meetings.

“I just felt like doodling! Can’t a guy doodle without being interrogated?” Peter asked as they slipped into the cafeteria. Peter really wanted to just head straight to their normal table and meet up with Ned – the other boy’s class was right next to the cafeteria and he always managed to be one of the first people to get his food and secure them their table so Peter knew he would be there – but that would only prove to MJ that something was different than usual and he would still have to come back to get food so he got in line instead.

“Sure, Peter, you can doodle. Just tell me what you were drawing.” MJ replied as she sidled in line next to him and grabbed a plastic tray from one of the large stacks set out for the students.

“No way!” Peter’s response was immediate and probably very revealing. But MJ thinking he had been drawing something embarrassing was still better than her knowing he had been sketching little hearts up and down the margins of his notes. She would never let him live it down.

“Hmm,” Peter swore there was a triumphant note to MJ’s voice and he dreaded knowing what she was conjecturing from his refusal. Luckily, he was saved from any more of her questions by reaching the front of the line and for a few blissful minutes he was able to hide behind polite small talk with the cafeteria workers as they piled food onto his plate. Unfortunately for him, there was no escaping MJ after she had gotten her own lunch and followed him to their usual table. “You have too many secrets, Peter. You should share some.”

Peter tried not to flinch at her words and wondered, not for the first time by any count, how much MJ knew or could guess about his after-school activities. There were definitely times when she seemed to hint that she knew the Stark Internship was not as Peter described but she was almost always content to satisfy her suspicions with disparaging comments whenever he ducked out of Decathlon meetings early or had to cancel on his plans to hang with her and Ned. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, MJ. Total open book!” Peter tried, knowing full well that his friend would buy none of it.

“You are a terrible liar.” MJ retorted and she may have tried to wheedle more information out of him had Peter not spotted Ned, sitting in the center of their normal table at the back of the cafeteria and hurried to reach him. All thoughts about MJ disappeared as he made his way towards Ned and Peter found himself smiling despite himself. Ned, who had been playing on his phone as he waited, looked up at their approach and easily returned Peter’s smile. It sent little tiny sparks down Peter’s spine as he went around the table and slid onto the bench next to Ned.

“Hey.” He told him, still smiling. He had seen Ned just this morning and he was used to not sharing classes with him on C-days, but, with everything still all new and shiny, it felt absurdly good to be next to him again.

“Hey.” Ned repeated back, smile widening. For a moment, it was just the two of them again, as if they were sitting down in the quiet of Peter and May’s kitchen rather than in a raucous high school cafeteria, and Peter was suddenly very tempted to lean in and steal a kiss from Ned.

Which, of course, was when MJ decided to make her presence known again by very loudly dropping her lunch tray onto the table across from them. Both boys jumped at the crashing noise as other students around them shot curious glances their way. Peter felt his face heat up despite himself as he noticed the knowing smirk on MJ’s lips as she slid into her seat. How obvious had they been? Could MJ read what their smiles meant? Could she read their _minds_? Of anyone Peter had ever encountered, normal or enhanced, MJ was by far the most likely to have that ability.

“It’s about time.” She stated matter-of-factly, still smirking at the two of them as she casually leaned forward and plucked a grape from Ned’s tray. Peter and Ned both stared at her for a moment before turning towards each other with twin looks of shock. Peter had no clue on how he should address this. He wasn’t even really out to MJ yet and that combined with the fact that he and Ned hadn’t talked about how open they were going to be meant he was struggling to come up with anything to say.

Luckily for Peter, Ned tried to take charge of the situation. “Wha-what are you talking about?” There had been a very audible crack in Ned’s voice but he had at least tried. Peter was still floundering, although he had at least turned to MJ and tried to plaster an expression of confusion on his face.

MJ just stared back at them, cocking her head slightly. It was the same look she gave when she thought someone had asked something incredibly obvious at Decathlon practices. She gave the look a lot. “If you don’t want to tell me about it,” she said finally, grabbing the apple off her tray, “that’s fine. Just know I’m happy for you two losers.” Peter darted his eyes over to Ned again. MJ sounded like she didn’t care whether or not the boys told her anything and she probably didn’t, but Peter still felt a little guilty. MJ was their friend and she obviously already knew. And there wasn’t anything to be ashamed or secretive about anyway; Peter had scored the best person to date in the entire school, in his completely unbiased opinion, and he was perfectly happy letting anyone know that.

But it wasn’t just Peter’s decision and MJ was offering them a way out from the conversation. If Ned didn’t want to talk about it yet, Peter was perfectly happy letting it drop as well. So he made eye contact with the other boy and cocked his head in a silent question. Ned, who had been openly and proudly out since middle school, just shrugged in response. He was giving the lead to Peter, then, to not only officially out himself but also their relationship. A wave of warm gratitude for Ned filled him in that moment and he outstretched his hand towards the other boy. Ned grinned and interlocked their fingers together as they both turned back to MJ. She was still watching them as she took a large bite from her apple, but Peter almost swore he could see the corners of her lips turned upwards, as if she was hiding an actual smile behind the round fruit.

“How did you know?” Peter wasn’t sure if he was wondering more about how she knew they were dating or that he wasn’t straight. It was probably a bit of both. He picked up his fork with his free hand to begin eating his own lunch as he waited for MJ to respond. Next to him, Ned did the same and Peter was unreasonably pleased that they were still holding hands.

“Like you guys are slick?” MJ scoffed. “I could tell from those dopey grins you gave each other. Besides, it’s been disgustingly obvious you two had a thing for each other for forever, it was only a matter of time before one of you idiots figured it out and actually did something about it.”. Peter flushed a little. Did they really smile at each other differently? “Which one of you finally made the move? Not that I care or think you need to adhere to ridiculous stereotypes about which one of you is more of the ‘guy’ or whatever, but I have a theory. Want to know if I was right.” MJ continued, still impassive as ever, as she set down her apple core and moved on to a slightly burnt piece of lasagna.

“What’s your theory? I’ll tell you if its right or not.” Ned bargained as he tried to cut through his own blackened pasta. Peter was curious to hear what MJ had thought as well, although he was sure it was going to be embarrassing.

“Well, I figured Peter’s too oblivious to even realize he liked you at first.” Peter made an indignant squawk at that but MJ barreled on, “but I also thought you wouldn’t make a move unless you knew Peter liked you, since you are also an idiot.” It was Ned’s turn to make an undignified noise of protest and Peter was glad that MJ at least thought both of them were incompetent. “Honestly didn’t think anything would happen for at least another year until you started bringing Nick around. You’re hilarious when you’re jealous, by the way.” MJ nodded at Peter and he felt his whole face turn red.

“I was never _jealous_!” Even Ned shot him a look, then, but Peter was adamant that he had not been jealous of Nick. He _hadn’t_.

“Right.” It was amazing how much sarcasm MJ could pack into a single word. “After you started hanging out with Nick and Peter started _not_ getting jealous, I assumed it wouldn’t take long for Peter to actually get his shit together, figure out he liked you, and either plan some ridiculously lame romantic gesture or just end up accidently telling you somehow.” MJ finished, shrugging slightly as she took off the first layer of the lasagna and began eating from the middle. Peter couldn’t help the flush that expanded across his face. Ned’s very loud laugh didn’t help the embarrassment.

“ _Dude_!” He hissed at Ned. MJ was scary accurate, as usual, but Ned didn’t need to take pleasure from that. He was supposed to be on _his_ side.

“Sorry!” Ned said, amusement still obvious in his tone even as he lightly squeezed Peter’s hand. “It’s just,” he turned to MJ then, “you got it absolutely right. He realized he liked me after I hung out with Nick a couple weeks back and then made a plan to tell me while I was staying over at his and May’s apartment. But he wrote his plan down and I found it trying to get some paper!”

“She didn’t need to know _that_!” Peter wondered if it was possible to actually turn into a tomato. He could already tell that his written plan was going to turn into Ned’s favorite story to tell everyone and he wasn’t sure if he would survive the sheer embarrassment. It was a more effective weapon than anything the Vulture had come up with.

Ned seemed to sense Peter’s discomfort because he turned halfway towards him and released his hand to wrap his arm around Peter’s shoulders instead. “I loved your plan,” he told him and Peter blushed again for an entirely different reason. Ned didn’t play _fair_ when he smiled at Peter like that.

“Oh God, you are one of those couples.” MJ’s voice broke the boys from their moment and Peter turned to look at her. She didn’t seem to be actually uncomfortable by their actions so Peter didn’t bother shrugging off Ned’s arm. Instead, feeling a little bold and also wanting to get back at Ned a little – after all, it was only fair that Ned do his share of blushing – Peter turned into Ned’s embrace and placed a lightning quick kiss on his cheek. Ned’s look of sheer surprise and the instant darkening in his cheeks was absolutely worth it and Peter was grinning when he turned back to MJ.

“We are the _best_ couple,” He told her. MJ just rolled her eyes. “

You’re a loser couple.” She retorted but Peter could hear the veiled fondness in her voice. “How’d you get your aunt to let Ned sleep over without her home anyway?” MJ asked after a moment of quiet. Peter, who hadn’t been expecting any more questions, let alone one about Aunt May, choked on an unfortunately large piece of pasta. Ned released his hand to roughly pat him on the back but made no offer to help field MJ’s question. Instead, he just seemed incredibly amused by the situation.

“I guess that means you didn’t tell her anything?” MJ smirked as she spoke. Peter avoided answering right away by taking an overly large drink of his water.

“There wasn’t anything to tell her, at the time.” He responded finally, after he had set his water back down. There was no point in lying to MJ but that didn’t mean he enjoyed watching her smirk grow.

“I think a giant crush on the boy you invited to stay over for _four_ days is something to tell your guardian, Peter.” MJ told him, reaching over and spearing a grape from his plate.

“She wouldn’t have let him stay over if I told her,” Peter admitted, pushing down the guilt that rose with the reminder that he was technically breaking May’s “no boys or girls” rule. “And it’s not like I expected anything to happen. Other than telling Ned how I felt.” Which was perfectly true – Peter hadn’t allowed himself to think much past the confession part because he had already been panicking and hadn’t wanted to make it any worse. The few thoughts he had had at all that involved May all involved her helping him get over Ned not liking him back and he actually had no idea how to address the fact that he was now dating Ned with her.

“That’s not a good enough excuse. She’s going to totally freak.” MJ seemed unnecessarily pleased by that idea.

“She’s not going to _freak_. May already knows I like boys and she’ll probably be happy that I’m with Ned over some stranger she’s never met.” Peter was speaking truthfully – May _adored_ Ned; but he also knew that no matter how much she liked the other boy, she was not going to be happy that Peter had been alone overnight with someone he was dating. He really should have thought about that possibility.

“Oh, I’m sure she’ll like you guys as a couple. But even the coolest parent is not going to be happy that they got tricked into leaving their child alone to share a room with their crush for multiple days. Especially when their child starts kissing said crush.”

“Dude,” Ned said, turning to look fully at Peter with wide eyes. It was fairly evident that he also hadn’t paid any thought to how May would react to finding out about them. “She’s right! How are we going to tell May? Or my parents?” Peter, who had been hoping Ned would have a plan for this part – honestly, it was fairly obvious at this point that Peter shouldn’t plan any aspect of this – scrambled for an answer.

“We just – won’t tell them right away,” Peter suggested slowly, trying to think of the various ways the plan could go wrong. “We’ll wait a couple weeks and then act like it just happened. That way they can’t get mad at us for staying alone together because as far as they know, we were just friends when we did it.” The more Peter expounded the idea, the better he felt about it. It wouldn’t technically be lying – just bending the timeline a little – and they would only have to keep their relationship quiet for a few weeks. Surely, it couldn’t be that _hard_.

“You losers are so screwed.” MJ said, a hint of amusement in her tone. Peter decided to ignore her. He had kept Spider-Man a secret from May for almost a year, he could definitely pretend to just be friends with Ned for a few weeks. He just wouldn’t be able to hold his hand, or kiss him, or smile at him.

Okay, so maybe it wouldn’t be easy. Peter was still confident they could pull it off.

He was Spider-Man and Ned was his Guy in the Chair. They could handle this.

Probably.

Most likely.

He was like 75% sure they could handle it.

Peter pushed thoughts of May out of his head while he went through the rest of the school day. May wouldn’t even be home until the next evening, he had plenty of time to worry about her finding out about Ned then. For now, he would enjoy the rest of his adult-free time and continue to be happy about him and Ned. He refused to let his fear of May’s anger burst the bubble of euphoria that had carried him through the day.

Ned was waiting outside the classroom door when Peter’s last class of the day - Spanish - let out, leaning casually against the wall and playing on his phone. Peter couldn’t help the smile that erupted on his face at the sight. It was one he’d been greeted with countless times – Ned’s class always let out a few minutes early – but it felt more special somehow.

“Hey! How was French?” Peter asked, speaking a little louder than normal to make sure Ned could hear him over the low roar of the other students milling out of the classrooms, as he walked over to Ned.

“Same as usual.” Ned replied as he slipped his phone back in his pocket and returned Peter’s smile. “Mrs. Belliveau spent more time talking about her baby than teaching us about the subjunctive, but I’m not gonna complain about that because A - her son is freaking adorable and B - she also pushed back our quiz again. How was Spanish?” Both boys turned and began shuffling along with the crowd of students as Ned spoke.

“Eh, pretty usual. Mr. Rodriguez drilled us on vocab and then gave us the rest of the class to work on our final project translations in prep for the AP exam.” Not that Peter had actually done that but he wouldn’t even tell Ned that he spent most of the class daydreaming about him. Some things were best kept to himself.

“How much homework do you have?” Ned asked as they stopped by their lockers.

“Not much. Got some Calculus problems to finish but that’s all I have for tomorrow.” Peter answered as he grabbed his Calculus textbook from his locker and replaced it with his Spanish one. Technically he was supposed to do some readings for Chemistry as well but the actual chapter work for that wasn’t due until Friday and it was all review for him anyway. “Why?” Peter added as he closed his locker and waited for Ned to finish grabbing his own things.

“Um, well-” To Peter’s confusion, Ned was flustered looking as he closed his locker and turned to face Peter. “I don’t have that much either and I was hoping we could hang out after it was finished.” Peter’s face scrunched in confusion. He had no idea why Ned would be flustered by wanting to hang out, especially since the boy was literally coming home with him to spend another night at his apartment.

“Of course, we’re going to hang out!” Peter told him, confusion obviously evident in his voice. Ned seemed to grow more flustered and Peter wondered exactly what he was missing.

“Yeah, but I mean _hang_ out. Like, it’s our last day before your aunt gets back and since we can’t do anything too _friendly_ when she gets back, I was hoping we could tonight. Like, put on a movie and just, hang out on the couch.”

Oh. Ohh. Peter understood Ned’s flustered state now – Peter was not the only one new to what they were doing and it was obvious that Ned had been a little unsure on what qualified as hanging out or hanging out. If Peter had thought of it before now, he probably would have felt the same as Ned did. That didn’t mean Peter wasn’t going to enjoy working Ned up some more – he was a teenage boy, after all, and not a saint.

“Ned, are you suggesting we Netflix and _Chill_?” Peter dropped his voice just the right amount to sound mock-scandalized and he took pleasure in seeing Ned’s cheeks darken.

“Not Neflix and _Chill_!” Ned was very quick to reply, “Just – putting something on and cuddle, like we did yesterday. It’s fine if you don’t want to! I don’t want to push you or anything-” Ned was rambling now and Peter found it adorable. He was starting to understand why Ned had laughed at him after Peter had tried to explain his notebook, but he resisted the urge and instead took pity on the other boy and cut him off before he could go on.

“Relax, man. I’m just teasing. I would love to _hang_ out with you.” He couldn’t help but emphasize the word as Ned had done.

“Dude!” Ned huffed at him, but there was a slightly relieved smile tugging at his lips as he lightly bumped his shoulder into Peter’s.

“Sorry, sorry!” Peter apologized with a laugh. “I couldn’t help it. Consider it payback for telling MJ about the notebook,” he said as Ned huffed at him again. “And you’re just too cute not to tease.” He added, brushing his fingers against Ned’s. The other boy’s ears reddened but he was at least smiling slightly at Peter.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re just saying that so I’ll still want to cuddle you.” Ned accused halfheartedly, the small smile on his face belying his annoyed tone. Peter grinned at him.

“Oh, absolutely. But it worked, right?” Ned made a show of rolling his eyes but he was full-out grinning as he turned to head out of the school, knowing Peter would follow beside him.

“We’ll see how the night goes. You’re just lucky you’re so cute or I wouldn’t even come home with you.” It was Peter’s turn to look flustered and Ned, who was obviously not as keen to take pity on Peter as Peter had for him, laughed all the way out of the school.

Despite Ned’s threats, his hands were on Peter the moment they were back at the apartment. They were never heavy touches – a light hand against Peter’s back as he unlocked the door, a whisper of fingers on his hip as they moved into the apartment, a gentle brush against Peter’s arm as they settled at the kitchen table with their textbooks. Most seemed accidental – a fleeting graze of Ned’ foot against his own as Ned made himself comfortable, a skim of his fingertips on Peter’s shoulder as he stretched, a soft brush of their arms as they wrote – but it was constant. For some reason, Ned wouldn’t stop moving and every time he jostled in his chair, some part of him brushed against Peter.

They were incredibly distracting, those feather-light touches. Peter’s senses screamed at every graze of Ned’s skin against his and not in entirely unpleasant ways. It made him think of the other ways Ned had touched him within the last day – the soft brushes of lips against his cheek, the press of them against his own, the firm touch of his hands against his shoulders, the warm weight of his hand in his, the security of his arm wrapped around Peter’s waist and the gentle heat of his body cuddled against his. All the ways Peter would have liked to be touched but couldn’t because of his stupid Calculus homework.

It was maddening; the way Peter was so hyperaware of Ned. Aware of every little movement because nearly all of them managed to brush a part of Ned against Peter and the ones that didn’t, Peter half-wished would’ve. But the touch wasn’t the worst part of the whole situation. The fact that Peter was accomplishing exactly none of his homework wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was Ned’s seemingly utter obliviousness to what he was doing. He hardly seemed to notice that he’d brushed against Peter at all, let alone how flustered Peter was getting. Peter should’ve considered this a blessing – it would have been way too embarrassing to have to explain why Ned’s arm accidently tickling his made him lose all his concentration – but he just found himself frustrated that Ned could be so infuriatingly distracting without even trying or noticing.

Peter was just about to make some excuse that would get him away from the table – he just needed a few moments away – when Ned himself stood up. “Gonna grab a snack,” he told him, absently placing his hand on his shoulder. “Want anything?”

“N-nah, I’m good.” Peter replied, carefully not looking up from his homework and valiantly pretending that he had done more than write the problems out on his paper. Ned patted his shoulder lightly, apparently oblivious to the way Peter was flushed pink, and made his way over to the fridge. Peter took the momentary reprieve to exhale softly and try to bring his focus away from Ned and onto his Calculus.

He tried to make sense of the differential equation he had copied down from his textbook but the numbers and letters kept jumbling up together and it took him a few blinks before he could read them clearly. He tried solving it but Ned’s soft footsteps as he moved around the kitchen were nearly as distracting as his touches were and Peter found his focus drifting again. It was very tempting to try and convince Ned to put the homework away and do something else but he also knew that if they started any of that, he would not be returning to Calculus. Even if kissing Ned was incredibly tempting.

Peter’s thoughts were broken by the soft thud of a bowl placed on the table and he instinctively looked up. Pink erupted on his cheeks when he saw Ned staring down at him. “You alright, Peter?” Ned asked as he settled back into his chair, still looking at the other boy. “You’re really red,” Ned reached up a hand and gently cupped Peter’s cheek. Peter’s flush darkened, spreading down his neck and to the tips of his ears.

“I’m fine! Just trying to get this math done!” Peter responded too quickly, picking up his dropped pencil. Ned seemed unconvinced by Peter’s words as his fingers softly slid from Peter’s cheek to his neck, lightly tracing the flushed skin. The gentle tease of fingers against his neck was foreign to Peter and he nearly jumped as the touch sent uncontrolled shivers down his spine.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Ned’s tone was slightly too innocent, even to Peter’s distracted ears, and despite the look of innocuous confusion he had plastered on, the corners of his lips were twitching upwards as he slid his fingertips further along Peter’s neck. It didn’t take long for Peter to realize Ned had been playing him.

“ _Ned_!” He squeaked, fairly certain his face was tomato red now. Ned, obviously knowing that the game was up, laughed lightly and removed his hand from Peter’s body. Peter tried to ignore the goosebumps the trailing fingers had left behind.

“Payback for teasing me about wanting to hang out.” Ned said, voice sugary-sweet as he picked up his pencil to continue his own work. Peter gawked at him, cheeks flaming. He had no idea that Ned had it in him to be such a tease. “You should finish your homework, Peter.” Ned added in a would-be innocent voice as he popped a blueberry into his mouth. Peter couldn’t help but notice that Ned was now careful to stay in his own space and not bump into him at all. It had all been on purpose then – Ned had known exactly what he was doing to Peter. Peter wasn’t sure if he was supposed to like this kind of game, but the warmth running through him at the thought of Ned’s teasing wasn’t entirely unpleasant. Still, he couldn’t just let Ned win.

“Why should I?” he challenged, trying and failing to not stare at Ned’s lips as the other boy continued to eat blueberries from his bowl. It was a weak response, even Peter could tell that, but it was the best he could come up with while his body was still thrumming from Ned’s carefully soft touches. Ned just smiled at him again.

“Because I’m not going to touch you again until all your calculus is done.” Ned responded, tone deceptively sweet. And yeah, Peter had to admit that was pretty good incentive to actually work through the differential equations.

“You’re a _jerk_ ,” he couldn’t help but mutter as he looked back at his paper and willed himself to focus on it. Somehow, his concentration was even worse without Ned’s playful touches. He was now hyperaware of the distance between him and Ned and how easy it would be to just reach over to Ned and give him a taste of his own medicine. But Peter was pretty sure that Ned wouldn’t have been as affected by his touch as Peter was by his because he would be expecting that reaction and it would play right into Ned’s game. And Peter didn’t want to play right into Ned’s hands, Peter wanted to _win_.

So Peter tried to tune out Ned and focus on his problems. He had done some of the work already in class last week and he only had four more to do. He would do them and then he would get his revenge against Ned.

If kissing him breathless counted as revenge, anyway.

Peter chose to think it did.

It took Peter just over an hour to finish the assignment, a ridiculously long time for four equations he could normally do with his eyes half closed, but he hardly cared about that. The important part was that they were finished and he could move on to doing better things. He covertly glanced up at Ned once he finished writing down his last answer, careful to not alert his friend that he had finished. Ned, who had probably accomplished about as much as Peter had while he had been teasing him, was engrossed in his own work and hadn’t noticed that Peter had stopped writing. Peter quietly set his pencil down and stood up, smiling to himself when the movement received barely any notice from Ned. This would be too easy.

Peter made his way down the hallway, being careful that his footsteps could be heard. He reached the bathroom, flipping on the light switch and making sure to close the door with an audible click. Then, after waiting a minute just in case he had drawn Ned’s attention to him, he very carefully opened the door again, this time making sure that it was completely silent as he inched it open and peered down the hallway. Ned was completely focused on his homework, his back turned completely from the hall so that he would have to actually twist all the way around to see what Peter was doing. Peter grinned as he slipped out from the bathroom and softly inched the bathroom door closed and began to crawl up the wall and onto the ceiling.

Peter knew there were some great perks to having his Spidey powers, but not even he had imagined they could be used for this. Not that he was going to complain about it. Ned may have proven to be very good at teasing, but he couldn’t do what Peter had planned and Peter was very grateful for his abilities as he made his way down the hallway ceiling silently. He didn’t stop until he was placed directly over the kitchen table, just in front of Ned. The other boy hadn’t noticed anything, his head still tilted downwards as he read from his textbook. Peter’s grin widened and he made quick work of turning himself around so that he would be facing Ned as he dropped down.

He was grateful now, that they had sat down immediately with their homework because it meant that Peter hadn’t taken off the web shooters that he had slid onto his wrists before school and it was very easy to quietly shoot a bit of web onto his feet and the ceiling so that he wouldn’t fall while trying to execute his plan. He glanced back down at Ned once he had done that, checking to make sure the boy hadn’t heard or noticed anything. He grinned when he saw that Ned was still deeply engrossed in his work and then, before his mind could try to convince him that this may not be the best way to get back at Ned, he dropped down from the ceiling.

He had calculated perfectly.

“What the fu-” Ned jolted back in shock as Peter’s face appeared nearly level with his own. Peter, grinning widely, leaned in to press a quick upside-down kiss on Ned’s still open mouth before swinging himself back up towards the ceiling and out of reach, laughing loudly at Ned’s shocked expression.

“I finished my homework!” Peter crooned cheerfully, smiling triumphantly as he looked down at the other boy who was still staring at him in complete shock.

“Dude,” Ned finally let out, reaching a hand to gently press against his own mouth as if in doubt that Peter had actually just dropped down from the ceiling to plant a kiss on him before swinging back up out of reach. For a moment, Peter doubted his actions and wondered if placing an unexpected kiss on Ned had passed an unspoken boundary in their new relationship. Then, Ned was speaking again and all doubts fled him. “That was really _hot_!” Ned loudly whispered. “Do it again?” Peter flushed a little at Ned’s admission but managed to shoot a mischievous smile to Ned.

“Nope. Not going to kiss you again until you finish your homework!” He announced happily, giving a cheerful little wave to the other boy before he darted across the ceiling and into the hallway, heading towards his room. He had just reached the door and touched back down onto the ground when he heard Ned’s half-strangled exclamation of his name and he laughed loudly as he rushed into his room. “Come get me when you’re done!” He told the other boy teasingly before shutting the door soundly before Ned could get out any more words of complaints.

It felt awfully good to win.

It didn’t take long for Ned to finish his work – or perhaps give up on it – and make his way into Peter’s bedroom. Peter, who had been sitting on the lower bunk of his bed and fiddling with his phone, smiled cheekily when he looked up and saw Ned standing in his doorway. He had been about to say something that would have undoubtedly been witty and gotten Ned back further for all the teasing, but before he could so much as open his mouth to speak, Ned had crossed over from the doorway to the bed and was leaning in to press his lips firmly against Peter’s.

The kiss wasn’t nearly as gentle as any of their previous ones but the change was completely welcome to Peter. He happily kissed him back as he wrapped his arms around the other boy’s waist to pull him closer. Ned responded in kind, placing his hands first on Peter’s shoulders before sliding them upwards onto his neck. Peter let out a surprised little gasp as he felt Ned’s fingers press lightly on the spots they had traced earlier. It was quickly becoming apparent that his neck was a surprisingly sensitive area that Ned was very willing to exploit.

Peter retaliated by tightening his hold on Ned’s waist and pulling him even closer. He had misjudged his strength, however, and the boys found themselves toppling over onto the bed. Peter blinked slightly in surprise as he found himself laying half on the bed, his feet dangling over the edge, with Ned lying on top of him. The other boy had an expression of surprise that mirrored Peter’s and Peter couldn’t help but laugh, sliding one of his hands off of Ned to cover his mouth. It only took a moment before Ned was laughing as well, sliding off of Peter to lie down next to him.

It took the boys a few minutes to calm their laughter because every time one of them finally stopped it only took a look at the other boy’s flushed, laughing face before they were set off again. Once they had finally settled, Peter turned himself so that he was lying on his side and propped himself up on one elbow so he could look down at Ned. The other boy looked back up at him, his warm brown eyes twinkling and his lips turned up in a content smile. It was the most beautiful Peter had ever seen Ned and he couldn’t help but cup the other boy’s face and lean down for another kiss.

It was a gentle, lazy kiss with none of the urgency of the other but there was something strangely more intimate about kissing a boy lying on a bed that sent a surge of warmth throughout Peter’s body. Ned’s arm snaked its way across Peter’s waist and he repressed a shiver as the other boy’s fingers softly slid across bare skin where Peter’s shirt had ridden up.

This was much better than differential equations.

Peter was so tangled up with Ned that he didn’t hear the front door creak open or the soft clunky glide of the battered wheels of an old suitcase against hardwood floor. He definitely didn’t hear the soft footsteps of his aunt coming down the hall to surprise her nephew and his best friend in his bedroom.

“Oh! Oh my God!” _That_ he definitely heard.

Peter and Ned both responded automatically with panic. Peter jumped up from where he had been lying on Ned – when had he pressed himself so close to the other boy? - slamming his head against the bottom of the top bunk viciously as he landed on his knees while Ned sat up and pushed himself as far away from Peter as he could, narrowly missing smashing his own head against the wall. Peter turned to face the doorway, one hand reaching up to rub the top of his head.

The door was half ajar – for once not Peter’s fault as it had been Ned who left it open – and May stood in the open space, one hand raised to her mouth in surprise. Peter felt all the blood drain from his face as panic took over. May was home. May was _here_. Standing in his bedroom doorway and looking at Peter who was still on his bed with a boy he had just been kissing in a definitely not Aunt-Approved way.

“May! It’s not – we’re not-” he glanced towards Ned but the other boy quickly shook his head, looking just as horrified and out of his depth as Peter was. He glanced back at his aunt who was still frozen in the doorway. “You’re home early.” He said finally, voice low and weak. He desperately wanted to look anywhere but at May but he found his eyes pinned to her, waiting for her to start yelling. She must have been furious and Peter really wanted to explain himself to her, but what could he say that would excuse the fact that although he hadn’t outright lied, he had definitely been dishonest with her. And there was no mistaking or excusing what he and Ned had been doing when she walked into his room. All that was left was for her to ask Ned to leave and ground him indefinitely.

May, surprising Peter, didn’t yell or tell Ned to go home. Instead, she dropped her hand from her mouth and, after drawing a deep breath to undoubtedly compose herself, withdrew a little further from the room so that she was outside of the doorway. “I’ll give you boys a minute to -uh-” she gestured vaguely with her hands before abandoning that particular thought, “I’ll be in the living room, come talk to me when your ready.” She told them finally, before disappearing completely from sight. Peter couldn’t help but notice that she had pushed the door completely open as she went.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” Ned whispered lowly the moment May was out of sight.

“She’s going to kill us,” Peter whispered in response, sitting heavily back down on the bed.

“Maybe it won’t be that bad?” Ned suggested, voice kept low so that May wouldn’t hear. Peter looked at Ned then. The other boy had pushed himself off from the back wall so that he was sitting next to Peter. “Maybe it’ll be like what you said to MJ,” Ned continued softly when Peter hadn’t replied. “She’ll be mad that we were alone for the weekend but would still approve of us as-” Ned copied May’s vague hand gestures, “dating.” He finally supplied.

“She _walked_ in on us making out.” Peter flung himself back onto the bed, covering his face with his hands as realization that making out was _exactly_ what the two of them had been doing hit him. He had been making out with his best friend turned – boyfriend? They hadn’t even had _that_ conversation yet – and his aunt had walked in. He had been making out for the first time ever and May had walked in. Even if she didn’t kill him for this, he would never live it down. This was the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to him. Worse even than the time Seymour O’Reilly had discussed, in depth, why he would sleep with Spider-Man during gym.

“Yeah.” Ned said, quietly. Peter felt a comforting hand placed on his shoulder but didn’t remove his hands from his face. “She did. Which is like the second most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me, I’ll admit. But May’s cool – she’ll probably be upset because she’ll think we tricked her into letting us stay over together alone but she’s not going to be mad that we’re dating. And besides, she was going to find out soon enough, right? This is a bit earlier than planned, but it’s not the end of the world. It’ll be okay.” Peter let Ned’s comforting words wash over him and finally, after a minute of silence, peeked from behind his fingers. Ned was looking down at him with concerned eyes, his hand still on his shoulder.

“Second most embarrassing thing?” He questioned as he moved his hands from his face and sat back up. This time, Ned grinned a little.

“Told a teacher at Homecoming I was on the school computer to watch _porn_. That’s on my school record, Peter. There will be nothing that tops that.” Peter felt himself smile a little then. Ned was right – not just about the porn on the computer thing although that was absolutely the most embarrassing thing that could have ever happened, but also about May. It wasn’t ideal, how she had found out, by any stretch of the imagination. But May was still May and although she was probably incredibly mad at Peter for not telling her about Ned before she allowed him to stay over, she was also the most loving and supportive person he’d ever met and she would probably be incredibly happy for Peter and Ned, once she got over her anger. It would be okay.

“Better face the music,” Peter said, wincing a little at the thought. Even if Ned had reassured him some, he definitely didn’t want to face May after what she had seen. Some things aunts should never have to see. He slipped off the bed and waited for Ned to follow. As they made their way out of the room, Ned reached for Peter’s hand and gave a reassuring squeeze. Peter squeezed back, taking comfort in the warmth of the other boy’s hand, before dropping it once more as they headed down the hall and towards the living room.

True to her word, May was sitting on the couch, twiddling her fingers. Her suitcase and purse were perched next to her bedroom – she must have left them there when she went to Peter’s room. There was a drink holder from the local café with three iced coffees in it on the living room table. May must have stopped on her way back from the airport to pick up a treat for her and the two boys. Peter’s guilt grew as he took that in. May was always a thoughtful person.

“Welcome back, Aunt May.” He said quietly, trying hard not to shuffle his feet as May looked up at the two boys. He was really tempted to hide behind Ned when May’s eyes reached his but he forced himself to stay put. There was no point in hiding from whatever punishment May wanted to give. He waited with bated breath for May to start yelling or scolding them.

She didn’t though. Instead, she reached over to the drinks she had bought and plucked the lightest one out of the holder. “Here, I got these for us. Extra milk and two shots of caramel for Peter, black for Ned.” She gestured for Peter to take the drink and he walked forward to do so, hesitantly. She did the same to Ned and then grabbed the final coffee for herself. “Take a seat, boys.” She told them and they immediately did so, Peter sitting on the edge of the couch, as far from his aunt as possible, while Ned gingerly sat down on one of the armchairs. For a few minutes there was silence and Peter stared down at the coffee in his hands, not quite able to look anywhere else.

“The last day of the conference was just executive meetings and a farewell lunch, so I decided to skip it and come home early as a surprise.” May said once the silence had stretched to nearly unbearable. Peter risked a surprised glance up at her. This wasn’t where he had expected she would start the conversation. “I see now that I probably should’ve called,” his aunt added, a wry note to her voice as she turned slightly to look at Peter. She didn’t sound angry, another surprise for Peter, but she was too quiet. The last time she had been like this, quiet instead of loud when she was mad, was when she had come home and found Peter in the Spider-Man suit. That had been a bad night.

“May, I’m sorry, I-” Peter tried to explain, wanting desperately for his aunt to understand. She held up a hand though, and Peter immediately fell silent. He dared a glance across the coffee table at Ned then but the other boy seemed just as anxious as Peter was, all soft reassurances from the bedroom gone.

“You don’t need to apologize or explain yourself, Peter.” She told him, her voice deceptively soft as she turned to look fully at Peter. “I’m the one who owes you an apology,” she continued, reaching out a hand to press gently on his knee. Peter was flabbergasted. May had done nothing wrong, he couldn’t understand why she was apologizing to him when he had been the dishonest one. “I wasn’t sure if I had handled you coming out correctly – it’s not something they add to the Aunt handbooks, y’know? – and I could tell something was bothering you but I didn’t want to push you to telling me anything you weren’t ready for. I’m so sorry that I made you feel like you couldn’t tell me about you and Ned,” she turned briefly to Ned then, indicating that her apology was meant for them both. Peter continued to be stunned as his aunt continued, looking back at him now and squeezing his knee gently, “I love you, Peter, and that will never change regardless of if you date a boy or a girl or don’t date at all. I’m so sorry I didn’t make that clear before.”

For a moment, Peter was completely silent. May had thought this was her fault? Thought that Peter felt uncomfortable telling her that he was seeing someone because she had done something wrong? Guilt rushed into him then and he was blurting out words before he had fully realized what he was going to say. “May, no! You never made me feel that way! That’s not why I didn’t tell you anything!”

May looked confused then. “Then why didn’t you tell me you were dating?” She glanced at Ned then, who seemed committed to staying silent as the two relatives talked. “Was Ned the one uncomfortable?” She asked finally, turning back towards Peter. Peter quickly shook his head.

“No! I’ve been acting weird because I was crushing on Ned, not because we were secretly dating and afraid to say anything! I didn’t want to tell you until I said something to Ned first, because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen! You did _nothing_ wrong!” He looked towards Ned again, desperately wanting the other boy to help. Ned must have read his expression correctly because he jumped in then to reassure May.

“Yeah, Mrs. Parker! I never felt uncomfortable around you or felt like I would have to hide a relationship. We didn’t kiss or anything before you left! Nothing was going on!” Peter was glad that both him and Ned had apparently decided to ignore the fact that they were planning on keeping quiet about the relationship for the first few weeks. That obviously was no longer an option and May definitely didn’t need her fears added to by the fact that they were going to hide it from her.

“You haven’t been dating?” May asked, confusion and skepticism clear in her tone. Both boys emphatically nodded.

“Didn’t even know he liked me ‘till yesterday,” Peter added. May’s eyebrow shot up.

“You two started dating _yesterday_? And you’re already kissing like that?” Peter’s face flushed darkly and looked back down at the coffee still in his hand. “Peter, that was at least third date level kissing I walked in on,” she turned to Ned then, “don’t be corrupting my nephew, Mr. Leeds.” May sounded more amused than anything else and Peter risked a glance back up at her. She was smiling now.

“You’re not mad?” He blurted before almost slapping a hand over his own mouth. First rule about being a teenager in trouble was to never remind an adult that they should be angry. It was right up there with never reminding a teacher that they hadn’t collected homework yet. May just patted Peter’s knee, still smiling.

“More surprised than anything,” she told him honestly, “and happy for you, both – I always thought you’d be good for Peter,” she added, turning to smile at Ned. Ned tentatively returned the smile. “Not that there aren’t going to be changes, now. No more Ned staying over in your bedroom, for one.” She told them and both boys emphatically nodded. “The rest, well, I have to think of them. I didn’t think I’d be in this situation, yet, honestly. They’ll come to me.” May added, sitting back on the couch and taking a sip from her coffee. “But for now, we won’t worry about it. Tell me everything.”

Peter glanced over at Ned, then back to his aunt. “Everything?” He repeated. May nodded.

“Everything. Who told the other first? Are you boyfriends or just casually dating? Does anyone else know? I swear, if Tony Stark knew that you were kissing Ned before I did, Peter Parker, I will ground you for a month.” Peter couldn’t help himself, he laughed. It was a noise of relief more than mirth. All his fears seemed silly now, with May sitting next to him, demanding to know everything about him and Ned and being overall supportive. He should have never doubted her.

“Mr. Stark does not know about me and Ned. I did tell him I had a crush on someone but he doesn’t even know it was a guy.” May nodded to indicate that was an acceptable answer. “MJ knows but we didn’t tell her, she just knows everything. As far as boyfriends go-” Peter trailed off then, glancing at Ned. Ned smiled at him in response.

“I don’t do anything casual.” He told him. Peter flushed a little but his smile grew wider.

“We’re boyfriends.” He told May, feeling obnoxiously pleased at saying that out loud. He and Ned were _boyfriends_. “Who told the other, well.”

“Ooh, can I tell her? May, you’re going to _love_ this story. Peter was such a dork.” Ned interjected, bouncing slightly on the armchair. Peter felt himself turn pink as May raised an eyebrow at him.

“I had a plan!” He protested. It wasn’t really his fault that Ned had found the notebook and spoiled what Peter had come up with. Well, technically it was. But still, it had been a _good_ plan.

“That’s never a good sign.” May quipped, smiling cheekily at her nephew. Peter stuck his tongue out at her in response. “Don’t you dare, Peter Benjamin, I know where that’s been!”

“May!” He squeaked as both boys furiously blushed. May just laughed in response.

“Oh, this is going to be so much fun!” She cheered as she set her coffee back down on the coffee table. “Please, go on Ned. Tell me all that my nephew had planned to woo you.” Despite Peter’s complete embarrassment at the whole situation, he couldn’t help the smile that stretched across his face as he drank his coffee and listened to Ned dramatically narrate all that had happened leading up to Ned kissing him.

He felt warm and loved, sitting in his living room surrounded by two of the most important people in his life. All the embarrassment was worth listening to his aunt and his boyfriend joyfully laugh and joke together. Well, nearly worth it.

Some things were still a little too embarrassing.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! Thanks for taking the time to read this story! I really liked writing MJ for the first and I also really liked writing more about Peter and Ned's growing relationship (I think they'd be the most adorable dorks together). I like to imagine that they are the type of friends to be completely supportive with each other but also ridiculously competitive about the silliest of things so it was fun to incorporate that into them as a couple. I also think that Peter would absolutely get walked in on by Aunt May on more than one occasion because boy can't close a door to save his life. Anyway, I really enjoyed writing this and I hope you liked reading it! I have a few more stories planned for this series and the next one should be up soon, if you're interested!


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